Overview

Projects are ubiquitous and have shaped the face of human civilization since antiquity. The 21st century has been dubbed by some as the “century of projects”. As developmental challenges, science and technology and knowledge relentlessly advance, projects – and a profound insight into how to manage them effectively and efficiently - will become all the more relevant with the passage of time. This is especially true for developing countries like Pakistan, where a huge chunk of public-sector resources are spent on projects every year, and the need to properly handle projects given acute and chronic resource constraints is the need of the hour. Projects are the key to Pakistan’s economic and social development.

Keeping in mind its mission of imparting quality education in Pakistan, and also because of its obligation as a public-sector university to contribute to the development and prosperity of Pakistan to the maximum extent possible within the framework of its resource limitations, CIIT is launching a1 ½ year Master of Science Program in Project Management (MSPM).

Special features and objectives

MSPM will help fill a major void in project management education in Pakistan. It is a well known fact that vast sums of public resources are wasted due to mismanagement of projects, particularly in the social sector. Project failures – as measured with respect to the non-attainment of its goal, and/or cost or schedule overruns – are common in Pakistan. This problem is attributable in part to the lack of basic project management knowledge of the initiators, planners and implementers of projects. Successful project management requires insight into several knowledge areas, for instance, communication management, risk management, cost and time management etc. Yet comparatively few project managers in Pakistan can claim that they have an adequate insight into all these areas. The dearth of project management education opportunities in Pakistan is the principal cause of this problem.

The Master of Science in Project Management (MSPM) program being offered by the Department of Management Sciences of the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad campus, is designed as a 1 ½ year full-time evening program which has the main objective of providing students with a comprehensive, in-depth and practical knowledge of this exciting, challenging and increasingly important subject area of management. The first of its kind in Pakistan, the MSPM will help overcome the acute and chronic knowledge deficiency in project management which plagues most private, public and non-governmental organizations operating in Pakistan.

Scheme

Course work

Min No of Courses

Min No of Credit Hours

Core Courses

4

12

Elective Courses

4

12

Project

1

6

Total

30

Program Description

Minimum of 16 years of education in a relevant field: Business Administration, Computer Science, IT, Economics, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Public Administration and policy, and Development Studies, with a 2.5/4.0 CGPA (or 60% marks in annual system) and excellent English communication skills. NTS-GAT score of 50% or above is mandatory.

Application and admission

At CIIT the admissions into graduate progams are offered on merit. the merit is determines on the basis of the academic record, GRE/NTS-GAT score and interview.

General Eligibility Criteria

Pre-requisite:

A 16 years degree in the Masters in Development studies with OR Master’s degree/ Four years bachelor degree in social sciences, management/administrative sciences or other relevant disciplines. from an accredited institution, with minimum First division (annual system) or CGPA 2.5/4.0 (semester system) and no third division (Annual system) or 'D' grade (semester system) throughout academic career.

NTS GAT (General) with minimum score of 50.

Program Duration:

The duration of studies for MS degree shall normally be, not less than two years and not more than four years.

Course Work:

An MS Scholar will have to complete minimum of 30 credit hours by undertaking 24 credit hours course work from approved Scheme of Studies and 6 credit hours of MS Thesis.